Stony Brook students, Eduware in 'win-win'

Call it Stony Brook University in Smithtown.

Stony Brook doesn't really have a location in the North Shore Suffolk town, but enough Stony Brook computer science students have worked at an educational software company called Eduware that it seems there is, in fact, a campus off Main Street.

Bill Stevens, a retired science teacher at Plainview-Old Bethpage High School who started Eduware in 1994 in Huntington, moved his company to Smithtown two years ago to be closer to Stony Brook.

In the past two years, Stevens said, he has hired about 50 Stony Brook students, most of whom work part time. Two former Stony Brook students are now working full time. The company now has 32 employees, five of them full time.

"It's hands-on" for the students, Stevens said. "It's a win-win for both of us. The way you learn is not from the class projects but from actually doing things. It makes them better equipped to go out and get jobs." Stevens said the students are paid "above minimum wage, sometimes way above."

Eduware started as a maker of test programs. The company is also involved with producing electronic clickers, hand-held devices used by students to answer teachers' questions. Eduware makes educational software for grades 3 through 12 and for some advanced-placement courses as well.

The company is open five days a week from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and also on Saturdays, to provide flexible hours for students. Tim Vallier and his wife, Mallory Vallier, have been working for Eduware since last summer. Tim Vallier is working on his doctorate in music composition from Stony Brook; Mallory Vallier, who also holds music degrees, works at Eduware full time as an assistant manager.

"I was on campus and unemployed and went to a job fair with my resume very intent on getting a job that day," Tim Vallier said. "It all seemed like a perfect fit."

Waseque Qazi, who graduated from Stony Brook in May and works for the company part time, said he was able to buy his first car, a Honda Civic, through his paychecks. He wants to work full time. "Working at a larger company, I would be a cog in the wheel," he said.

Marianna Savoca, director of Stony Brook's career center, said Eduware is unique. While many other companies on Long Island hire Stony Brook students part-time, Eduware focuses almost exclusively on them. Stevens is a "smart guy," she said.